Hull City ’s away record brought their relegation from the Premier League in May and unless Leonid Slutsky can quickly cure this long-standing travel sickness there can be little hope of an immediate return.

City have now gone over a year since last winning a league game outside of East Yorkshire and an embarrassing defeat to Derby County extended a sorry run that is now troubling a third different manager.

Not since securing a 2-0 victory at Swansea on the second weekend of last season have the Tigers returned home with three points and the rot deepened dramatically on a sorry evening at the iPro.

On the same ground where City planted one foot on to Wembley turf for the Championship play-off final when last visiting 16 months ago, they were ruthlessly blown away. Defeats are a given in this unrelenting division yet the meek nature of this third loss in four games was unacceptable.

So much for Slutsky’s “unbelievable adventure” as City boss. From the moment Seb Larsson missed a 26th minute penalty and the chance to cancel out Matej Vydra’s early goal, the Russian watched through slatted fingers as his team unravelled at an alarming pace.

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Vydra’s second began a demise that was accelerated by a header from one-time City captain Curtis Davies and a tap-in from Bradley Johnson. A 4-0 deficit at the break was made to look all the more sobering when Johnson stroked in another on the hour mark and only small mercies ensured the humiliation ended there.

Slutsky is not the man to blame for City’s travel problems yet he is responsible for finding a remedy. It is now 21 league games without an away win for the Tigers. Put another way, City have taken just four points from a possible 63 since that enjoyable trip to Swansea almost 13 months ago.

The next chance to right these wrongs will come at Fulham on Wednesday but a third defeat in six games this season was a reminder that Slutsky faces a big challenge to deliver on his targets of promotion.

Derby players celebrate after scoring the opening goal during the Championship match with Hull City

After all the uncertainty of August, there was a sense that City’s season began in earnest at the iPro Stadium. Over half of the starting XI were Slutsky’s signings, including the full debutants Stephen Kingsley, Jon Toral and Nouha Dicko. New boys Jackson Irvine and Fikayo Tomori added to the freshness from the bench.

Such was the changing face of this City squad, old boys Davies and Tom Huddlestone were able to boast more appearances for their former club than the entire team selected by Slutsky.

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That lack of familiarity will inevitably bring its troubles but none like City’s head coach could have predicted when conceding the opening goal 15 minutes in. Ola Aina, who had been among the first to impress, was painfully naïve when conceding a free-kick on the edge of his own box, sliding in needlessly to fell Vydra.

Derby’s forward picked himself up to rifle a fierce drive past Allan McGregor, who did not cover himself in glory when beaten too easily on his own side of the goal. City were close to an equaliser within a minute when Jarrod Bowen’s free-kick was headed narrowly wide by captain Michael Dawson but it was nothing like the opportunity spurned by Larsson midway through the opening half.

Hull City's Sebastian Larsson hits his penalty over the bar during the Championship match at Derby (Image: Alan Stanford/Focus Images)

Aina was wrestled down at the back post when attempting to connect with a deep cross from the left, with referee Darren Bond awarding a penalty on the advice of his assistant. Larsson bickered with Grosicki for the honour of taking the spot-kick and undermined his argument by spraying his effort high over the bar.

The miss would prove costly as Derby feasted upon the fragility of their guests. Each uncertain step was punished, ensuring the contest was settled by three goals inside 11 minutes.

Vydra doubled his tally when dispatching David Nugent’s clever lay-off with another sweetly-struck finish before Davies barged his way past more half-hearted marking to make it 3-0 from Tom Lawrence’s right-wing corner.

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A show of respect from City’s FA Cup final captain in 2014 brought muted celebrations but his team-mates were merciless against a fast-imploding opponent. Although McGregor denied Vydra his hat-trick when saving at his near post, the Rams netted their fourth in first-half stoppage time.

Statuesque defending presented Johnson with a painfully simple finish once Lawrence’s cross and the midfielder duly produced the tap-in that will have seen some travelling supporters contemplating a half-time getaway.

There was signs of a fight early in the second half as City searched for a consolation. Bowen was close to converting a cross from Kingsley, while Grosicki snatched at a chance at the back post. In between, though, came Derby’s fifth goal.

Michael Hector, among the stars of City’s opening month, attempting to clear from his own byline gave the ball to Johnson, who was inexplicably given time and space 20 yards out to place a precise finish beyond McGregor for his second of the night.

The humiliation was curbed as Derby put their cue back on the rack through the final 30 minutes. Aina almost brought a consolation when his header was tipped over by Scott Carson before David Meyler’s long-range effort clipped the bar but the 800 or so travelling fans found no respite. Protest banners against owners Assem and Ehab Allam, unveiled during the closing minutes by travelling supporters, further illustrated that this is shaping up to be another arduous campaign for the Tigers.